Tile mounting



. June 6, 1933. J, KERTE 1,913,031

T ILE MOUNTING Filed March 10, 1932 zrmzw.

' ticularly to sembled relation.

" -.Pdftentcd 6, 1933 UNITED STATES I JOHN mamas, OF YITTBB'UBGH,PENNSYLVANIA TILE mouu'rme Application fled um 10, mas. Serial No.597,875.

This invention relates to a tile, and para facing tile backed formounting on a surface and for mutually spacing each tile from otherswhen mounted.

5 With articular reference to tile made-of steel and enamel to simulateclay or porcelain tile, it has been the custom to attach such tile to abacking board in such manner that it carries a number of tile in as- Theattachment of individual' tile to a common backing board either by meansof prongs on the side walls of the tile themselves, or by groovmfi thebacking board to. receive the side wa s of the tile. The use of a commonbacking board is customary whether or no these steel tile be providedwith backing pads. Similarly, clay, porcelain, and glass facing tile arecommonly set into a prepared surface of cement in which the tile arepartially embedded. Such tile as is well known, are set in the cementindividually, and the mutual spacing of the tile to provide uniform1ntervals for pointing is a relatively dificult task. 7

Whether the steel facing. tile be attached in a relatively great numberto a continuous backing sheet, or whether such tile, ;or the clay,porcelain, or glass tile be individually so set in cement, they aresubject to cracking or crazing of their surface, due to expansion andcontraction caused by temperature variation.

The ob'ect of m invention is to provide a facing tile indivi ually sobacked that the tile may be mounted directly to a surface such as afloor or wall, in accurately spaced relation by merely covering thesurface on which the are mounted with a thin skim of glue or othersuitable cementitious material. A further object of my invention is toprovide each individual tile with backing means of such nature and arranement that when the tiles are mounted t ey are attached solely byyielding material capable of absorbing the tendency toward mutualmovement of the tile due to expansion and contraction and therebypreventing cracking or crazing of the tile caused by tempera ,turevariation.

In the accom anying drawing Figure I is an elevation o a wall with myfacing tile applied thereto; Figure II is a cross-sectional view takenon the line II-II of Figure I, showin my backed tile mounted in spacedrelation t ereon; Figure III is a view show ing in plan and in lonitudinal section a steel facing tile provide with backing and spacingmeans in accordance with my invention; Figure IV is a longitudinalsectional view showing the adjacent regions of two backed steeltile ofmodified form, and illustrating both the mounting of the' tile and thepointing of the interval therebetween; Fi ure V is a plan view of anonmetallicfacing tile provided with backing and spacing means inaccordance with my invention; Figure VI is an edge view of the tileshown in Figure V; Figure VII is an elevation of a wall faced withnon-metallic tiles such as the tile shown in Figures V and VI; FigureVIII is an elevation showin tw'o mounted and mutually spaced tile, illustrating a modification in non-metallic tile facing or bodies and inthe backing and spacing means thereof; and Figure IX is across-sectional view taken on the line IX IX of Figure VIII.

With particular reference to Figures II and III of the drawing the tilebody therein showncomprises a plate 1 and a relatively shallow dependingportion or wall 2 extending around the plate. This tile facing or bodyis formed of steel, or other suitable metal, and is desirably covered onits outer face by an enameled coating, or other ornamental coating,applied by any suitable proeess. Into the shallow trough formed by thesteel plate 1 is inserted the upper portion 3a of a backing block 3,which is composed 9 of some yielding absorbent material, 'as'for examplethe fibrous com osition known .under the trade name of elotex.

In order that the backing pad 3 may'mutually space individual tile asthey are mounted on a surface, and provide a'yielding backing for theassembly of tile formed by the individual pads, the pad 3 of the tile,is provided on all sides'with a laterally ei tending flange 3b. Theflange 3b is formed 1 on'each of the pads before its insertion into theshallow trough provided by the steel tile 1, as by shaving the pad alongits edges to remove material and leave the upper portion 3a and theflange 3b.

In assembling the tile shown in Figures II and III, the tile, or theinner face of the trough provided by the steel tile 1, is coated with asuitable adhesive ca able of forming a bond with a smooth sur ace. Theupper portion 301 of the ad 3 is then pressed into the tile and heldrmly therein until it adheres thereto. As so or anized the lower edge ofthe depending we. 1 2 around the tile body rests upon the upper surfaceof the flange 3b, and flange 3?) extends on all sides of the tile amaterial. distance outwardly beyond the depending wall 2.

In order that the thickness of all the finished tile so constituted maybe uniform, the tile are then passed through a shaver, which removesfrom the lower face of the pad 3 any material in excess of apredetermined thickness for the tile.

As so prepared tiles are ready for mounting on a smooth surface. Withparticular reference to Figure II, reference numeral 4 designates thebacking members of a wall, and 5 the relatively smooth layer of sidingboard, plaster, or fiber board, on which the tiles are mounted. In orderto mount the tile on the surface 5 an area of this surface is brushed orskimmed with a suitable adhesive, as for example linoleum cementcommonly employed for attaching linoleum to floors. The tile are thenmounted by simply placing them one b one on the surface, with theflanges 3b 0 the several tiles in mutual contact, and pressing the tilesfirmly into position to effect their adhesion to the surface on whichthey are mounted. As so mounted, the tile are held in position wholly bythe adhesive attachment of the backing pads to the wall surface.

In this mounting operation the positioning of the tiles is greatlysimplified by the flanges 3b, which, when brought into contact with eachother, space the mutual side a and end wall 2 of each tile from the wallor walls of an adjacent tile or tiles. It is, therefore, unnecessarythat the intervals between tiles be measured, and the contact betweenthe flanges of the several tiles 'facilitates the application ofpressure. while the tiles are becoming cemented in position. After adesired area on the surface 5 has been covered by the tile, theintervals between tile are filled with a suitable pointing 6. Theintervals for the reception of this pointing are provided withoutmeasurement, or intentional spacing, on the part of the person mountingthe tile, by the mutual contact of the flanges 36 on the several tile.

I ,It should be noted that when a wall has been thus faced the backingpad 3, forming a portion of each complete tile independent- Figure IV ofthe drawing illustrates a modification in the backing pad designedspecifically to provide additional anchorage for the pointing betweentile. .F or this purpose the upper portion 7a of the pad 7 extends intothe trough within the steel face 1 at a depth greater than the depth ofthe side walls 2. When the tile are then brought into abutting position,as shown in Figure IV, an interval 8 is provided between the lower edgeof wall 2 and the upper face of flange 7 b on the pad.- This relativelyslight crevice serves to firmly anchor the pointing 6 in position.

In Figures V and VI I show a tile having a solid body, of some suitablematerial, such as clay, porcelain, or glass, and cemented to therearward face of this body 9 a pad 10 of yielding fibrous materialsimilar to that described above. pad 10 are such as to provide a flange10a extending outwardly beyond all sides of the tile body 9.

The mounting of this tile is identical with that described in connectionwith the steel tile shown in Figures II and III. Similarly a relativelysmooth surface is brushed or skimmed with adhesive,- and the tile areindividually placed in position on this surface, being mutually spacedsolel by contact between the flanges 10a of t e several tile. They aresimilarly pressed in position until the adhesive has set, and theintervals between tile rovided by the flanges 10a are similarly filledwith pointing material 6. v

Figures VIII and IX of the drawing illustrate a further modification inwhich either form of tile as above described is provided with backingpads 11 having flanges 11b extending outwardly a relatively greatdistance beyond the body of the tile. When the tiles are mounted on asurface,

their bodies 12, shown specifically in these figures as a non-metallictile, arespaced apart a relatively great distance to provide wideintervals for the insertion of pointing. As the pointing material mightotherwise tend to flake loose from the upper surfaces of the flanges 11bthese flanges are each provided with notches 110. The intervals formed bthese notches 11o provide adequate anc orage for the pointing material.

Another modification shown in Figures The dimensions of this the vindividual backing pad by which individual ing surface VIII and IXconsists in dishing the rearward; face of the tile to provide in it atrough 13, similar to the trough provided by the formation of themetallic tile shown in Figures I to IV inclusive. The advantage of thistrough is that it serves to position the backing pad 11, during itsapplication to the body of the tile, so that the flange 11b rojects anequal distance beyond all sides o the tile bod This positioning avoidsthe necessity or special gauging means in assembling the elements ofthe' backed tile.' 7

It should be understood that my invention is not directed primarily tothe material of which the facing or body portion of the tile is made,and that the invention applied to tile of any suitable material or comosition. In every modification shown the unction of the flange, on thebacking pad and extending outwardl beyond the body proper of the tile,shou d be emphasized. These flanges permit the tile to be mounted withreasonable rapidity upon a hard surface in which the tile is notembedded, leaving a sub stantialspacing between the bodies of adjacenttiles. The fact that-the backed tile, with or without a flange, maybeindividually mounted by the use of an adhesive is in turn of greatimportance, since it avoids inconvenience and waste which occurs whensheets of backing material faced with tile are cut to fit any wall orfloor area on which are to be mounted. The use of an tile have their onlconnection to the carryplrovi es 9. structure capable of absorbing wolly, or to such point as to avoid harmful results, stresses set up byexpansion and contraction of the surface to which the tile are attachedby means of their backing pads. The fact that the tile bodies are notrigidly attached to the surface prevents crazlng which occurs byrestriction of the expansion and contraction of the tiles themselves.The 'elding mounting also protects the wall acing against vibration andother mechanical shocks.

It may be further noted that m individually backed tile possesses a mared advantage for packing and shipment. v This is for the reason that thebacking pads of yielding material rotect the facing or body portion ofeach t1 0 from chipping by contact with a similarly hard surface ofanother tile. This effect is increased by the flange of the backing pad,which extends ggtdwardly beyond .the side wall of the tile I claim asmyinvention:

1. A backed title comprisin a metallic sheet facing bodyof dished cm,and a yielding b acking pad attached to said facing body, said backingad comprising a fl ange extending outward y beyond the edges of thefacing body a distance suflicient to mutually space the facing bodies ofadjacent tiles as mounted on a surface and cause a material intervaltherebetween.

2. A backed tile comprising a metallic sheet facing Zbody formedrearwar'dly to provide at least onedished region, and a yieldin backingpad attached to said facmg bo y and having a ortion lying within thedished region of the acing body and said backing pad comprising a flangeextending outwardly beyond the edges of the facing bod a distancesuflicient to mutually space the acing bodies of adjacent tiles asmounted ona surface and cause a material interval therebetween.

'3. In a faced wall the combination of a wall surface, adhesive on saidwall surface, and a plurality of tile adhesively mounted on said wallsurface, each said tile comprising a metallic sheet facing body ofdished form and an absorbent yielding backing pad attached to the facingbody and lying between the facing body and the wall surface, the saidfacing bodies of the several tile s ced 'b flanges constituting an in-,tegra part 0 the backing pads of the sevval between the facing bodiesof the several tile. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set m hand.

y JOHN KERTES.

